Minority Groups Decry Cigarette Ads
"The ads include glossy magazine images of minority women, including a geisha, smoking the Virginia Slims brand. The groups are also angry about recently launched ad campaigns in Atlanta and Pittsburgh for Marlboro Milds, a menthol brand that they say is being aimed at the black community."
They see us as potential new markets -- but we're not going to stand for it,'' said Rod Lew, project director of the California-based Asian Pacific Partners for Empowerment and Leadership. He and several other health officials held a news conference at the American Public Health Association's convention in Chicago.
In addition to sending letters of complaint to Philip Morris, Lew said the groups have asked magazines running the Virginia Slims ads to pull them from future issues. Magazines running the multiple-page ads in their December issues include People, Marie Claire, Glamour, Essence, Latina, Vibe and Ladies Home Journal.
Officials from those magazines did not immediately return messages Tuesday seeking comment.
However, a Philip Morris spokeswoman called the groups' claims ''completely ridiculous'' and pointed out that the Virginia Slims campaign includes a white woman and is running in general market magazines as well as those that cater to black and Hispanic women.
''While the visuals are multiethnic, the message is singular,'' said Kati Otto, a spokeswoman at the company's New York headquarters. ''It's about personal expression and individuality.''
She also said the campaign -- which the company has no intention of ending -- was aimed at women who already smoke.
The Marlboro Mild ads -- complete with ''cowboy boots and Western vista'' -- were not aimed specifically at the black community, she said.
''In no way can you look at what we're doing with this campaign and back up the claims that these groups are making,'' Ms. Otto said, adding that 60 percent of those who smoke menthols are white.
Dr. Adewale Troutman, director of public health services in Fulton County, Ga., which includes Atlanta, did not challenge that statistic.
However, she said, nine out of 10 black young people and three out of four black adults who smoke regularly choose menthols. |
